New Northern Irish Connections in Hong Kong Group
NICHK Committee
NICHK is run by a committee of representatives from the NI diaspora, alumni of NI Universities and others with an interest in strengthening relationships between Hong Kong and NI. The committee aims to support the work of Invest NI in Hong Kong, and cooperates closely with other public and private organisations with similar goals, as well as organising social events and networking for people with connections to Northern Ireland.
NICHK also aims to make Hong Kong-based investors, and the general public, aware of the opportunities/attractions available in Northern Ireland.
Invest NI opened its regional office in Hong Kong at the end of last year and just prior to this Neal Beatty, founder of Friends of NI in Shanghai relocated to Hong Kong. A few months later, the committee for Northern Irish Connections HK was formed.
The committee has met three times since its inception late last year and are delighted to announce that Northern Irish Connections Hong Kong has just received its official status as a Society in Hong Kong.
I have lived away from Northern Ireland (Co. Down) for almost 20 years but it will always be home and I am immensely proud of my roots. It’s a privilege to work with such a talented group of people with links to NI from a wide variety of industries in Hong Kong, many of whom I have only met because of Invest NI’s introduction! I joined the committee in the hope of contributing my little bit, and helping promote the success of NI both at home and overseas.
NICHK Membership
NICHK currently has 100 Northern Irish connections in Hong Kong, and 70 members attended the launch event last week. Members are not only people originally from Northern Ireland, but also anyone with an interest in or a connection with NI, either through family, work, travel or study. They work in a wide range of industry sectors in Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen.
Launch Event
NICHK hosted a formal launch event in June 2018 at the Hong Kong Yacht Club sponsored by Invest NI, NI Bureau, Powell Tempest Wealth Management (St. James’s Place), First Derivatives, Friends of the Open House Festival, Team Building Asia and the Peninsula Hotels.
This was an excellent launch event to what I believe is an essential group to those that are working for Northern Irish companies in Hong Kong. The true value that the group brings to the table is introducing like-minded people that have years of experience working within the Hong Kong market and who have excellent connections, and are willing to make introductions to help generate awareness of our business.
